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Messer, George, 1833-1863 (Sc 3211), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text transcription (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 3211. Letters, 6 January-31 May 1863, of George Messer to his wife Lottie in DeWitt County, Illinois, while encamped in Hart County, Kentucky and at Camp Hobson, Glasgow, Kentucky. He writes of illness and death among his comrades, troop strength, wage payments, food, and his commanding officers. Weary of a soldier’s life and anxious for the South’s total defeat, he criticizes conscription laws that allow exemption on payment of a fee, and accuses politicians and “Eastern men” of prolonging the war. He notes local citizens’ …